PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Assunção Cristas, Catarina Pinto Correia and Carolina Vaza, VdA
supports environmental policies for the pursuit of Sustainable Development Objectives, contributing to the achievement of national and international objec - tives and commitments, in particular those related to climate change adaptation, carbon markets, energy efficiency, water resources, waste, forests, nature conservation and biodiversity and co-operation in the area of environment and climate action, including for the fulfilment of international commitments. Specifi - cally, Portugal has co-operated, through the Environ - mental Fund and PECs, with the PALOP countries and Timor-Leste. New beneficiary countries were added in the last few years, from North and Western Africa and Latin America, including Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Colombia and Argentina. Portugal has also reiterated its collaboration with Brazil in a joint declaration on 22 April 2023 promoting just energy transition aimed at carbon neutrality, within the framework of the Paris Agreement. As an EU member state and as part of the Official Development Assistance programme, Por - tugal has made commitments to mobilise 0.15% to 0.20% of its Gross National Income and allocate it to Least Developed Countries by 2030. Portugal also endorsed the commitment derived from the 2014 ministerial-level meeting of the Development Assis - tance Committee (OECD/DAC) to focus support from member countries on countries most in need (which includes fragile states, least developed countries and small island developing states). Lastly, many of the co- operation agreements in the energy area also mention the need to achieve a just energy transition, namely one that is aligned with the objectives established by the Paris Agreement. 2.6 Climate Litigation Climate change litigation is an increasingly significant feature of the legal landscape in Portugal, reflecting broader European and global trends. While Portugal has not seen the same volume of climate-related cases as some other jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands, Germany or the United Kingdom, there is a clear and growing interest in using the courts to address climate change issues. This trend is shaped by both domestic legal developments and Portugal’s obligations under European Union law and international agreements. The Portuguese Climate Framework Law (Law No 98/2021 of 31 of December) establishes the concept of environmental citizenship in Article 7, stating that eve -
ryone has the duty to protect, preserve, respect and ensure the safeguarding of the environmental equilib - rium, contributing actively to mitigate climate change. In 2024, climate litigation became topical in Portu - gal due to a legal proceeding moved by Associação Último Recurso (a Portuguese non-profit organisation focused on climate justice and strategic climate litiga - tion) against the Portuguese state for lack of climate accountability, seeking a ruling that declares Portugal must set stricter targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to define long-term plans for carbon neutrality. The Supreme Court invited the associations that brought the proceedings to identify the measures they considered sufficient for adoption by the Portu - guese state to ensure, by 2030, a reduction of at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions (excluding the con - tribution of soil and forests). The core issue raised was the vagueness of the Portuguese Climate Framework Law regarding the implementation and execution of the targets settled. The Portuguese Climate Agency (ApC), established by Decree-Law No 122/2024 and operational since 1 January 2025, has replaced the Portuguese Environ - ment Agency (APA) in responsibilities related to cli - mate. ApC therefore plays a role in areas relevant to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and follows develop - ments in the related negotiations. In addition, the ApC is responsible for other functions, such as managing climate-related funds (for example, the Environmen - tal Fund and the Social Climate Fund), co-ordinating decarbonisation efforts in the sectors of industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and forestry, and implementing PNEC 2030. Therefore, the ApC now centralises climate policy and action in Portugal, including oversight of the voluntary carbon markets, which were formerly the responsibility of the APA. The national carbon trading scheme is foreseen in Decree- Law No 12/2020, enacting Directive 2018/410/ EU, and establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emis - sions allowance trading within the European Com - munity (the Amended Emissions Trading Directive). Operators subject to this legal regime must hold a 3. Responses to International Developments 3.1 Voluntary Carbon Markets
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